Giving Compass' Take:

• A worker for Doctor Without Borders in Yemen details the harrowing conditions she witnessed as a result of war and blockades, and how getting medical aid to those who needed it most was a daunting challenge.

• What can international groups do to provide relief to the victims of violence in this region? Supporting volunteers who want to assist the most vulnerable people is a good place to start.

• Here's why the crisis in Yemen is getting worse, as refugees flee the Horn of Africa.

I have just returned to Ireland having spent three and a half months in Yemen; working as a doctor for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) near Taiz city.

In my short time there, I could see the consequences of violence everywhere, particularly in my patients and in the day to day lives of my Yemeni colleagues.

Three years of conflict, blockades on essential goods and strikes on hospitals have caused the Yemeni health system to essentially collapse. The government hasn’t paid nurses or doctors for up to two years and now there are largely only private hospitals where treatment isn’t free.

Many people simply cannot afford to pay for their healthcare as the prices of basic goods have risen drastically.

I worked in a huge mother and child hospital in Al-Houban, just [3 miles] away from the frontlines.

Because MSF provided the only free mother and child healthcare in the area, people would travel up to seven hours to get to us. We had capacity for baby neonatal, pediatric and nutrition beds and also ran a trauma center, antenatal clinic and a maternity emergency ward.

People often wait until they feel it’s absolutely necessary to seek medical care. A lot of people arrived at our hospital almost, or already, dead. Dead children, dead mothers; this was shockingly common.

Read the full article about the violence in Yemen by Niamh O'Brien at Doctors Without Borders.